The 19th century had a unique view of nature that shaped the homes and daily life of Americans in the Victorian Age. Gardens were to be found in public and private spaces, indoors and outdoors, as people came to incorporate plants into their personal space. Nature came to symbolize dual qualities of the wild and untamable and the carefully cultivated, the romantic and spiritual setting and the scientifically catalogued.

This exhibit explores the lawns, parks, and indoor gardens and the Victorian values associated with them. The museum’s original owner, Hugh White, built his estate in 1830 during this period and its grounds and rooms were influenced by this desire to find a place for nature in the rapidly developing industrial world growing up in Waterford.